Friday, June 20, 2008

Cow Point



This gift was bestowed upon us after a thunderstorm earlier this week. There were two rainbows, although the second one doesn't show up well (or at all) in this picture. The pot of gold is a place called Cow Point, although when seen with the naked eye that evening, the pot of gold for both rainbows was Gwynn's Island, which is a little further back.

Cow Point is a small beach at the mouth of our creek. Although privately owned, it used to be so popular you'd have thought it was public. Boaters flocked here, whether as a destination or just as a place to take a break.

As a kid I had a rowboat that I treasured more than an adult would a car. This boat gave me the freedom to go anywhere I wanted provided my arms didn't give out. They never did. I could be gone for a day (and never be missed by my mother, may I also add).

One summer, my City Cousins came for a visit. I decided it would be a great idea to go camping on Cow Point, and we'd go via rowboat. I would now like to press pause and point out the many aspects of this scheme that should have prevented us from going:

1. Cow Point is not a public campground. It is someone's property. We never knew who that person was, making it even more uncomfortable if they found four unchaperoned children sprawled out on their beach..in the middle of the night.
2. When I say camping, what I mean is we would take some blankets and sleep on the sand the entire night. No tent, no protection, no nothing.
3. My cousins' parents, also known as my aunt and uncle, were both doctors and not inclined to say, "Sure. You youngsters load up a rowboat, sleep outside on someone else's property with nothing but blankets and no possible way to communicate with us here in the event of an emergency, such as there are so many mosquitoes at Cow Point that you have just contracted malaria."

By some miracle (?) both sets of parents decided it was OK for us to go through with our adventure. We loaded the rowboat, and the four of us went to Cow Point. All we had was a few blankets and...I don't remember anything else. The End.

No, the one other thing I remember is in spite of all my clever scheming and attention to details, such as we were sleeping unprotected outside on someone else's property approximately 20 minutes from home by rowboat, I did overlook one thing.

The next morning when we woke up, the tide had gone out. Way, way out. The lowest tide ever recorded. Our boat, now sitting high and dry on the beach, was approximately WAY TOO FAR from the water.

I remember the Virginia Marine Patrol helping us get the boat back into the water, but I don't remember much else. The End.

No, one more thing. Can any of you parents imagine sending four children off into a rowboat with no cell phone, no possible way to communicate, on someone else's property, in the heat of summer, with mosquitoes the size of vultures and the possibility that some crazy lunatic could have showed up and absconded with everyone?

Me either, but it sure was fun.

9 comments:

Bear Naked said...

We had a rainbow here yesterday but it was not at all as brilliant as the one in your photo.
Very nice.

No I can't imagine any of the parents now-a-days allowing their children to do that.

Seems a pity doesn't it?

Mental P Mama said...

That is a fantastic shot. And, sadly, no, I cannot imagine letting the kids go off in a rowboat to spend the night on someone's beach. I did let them sleep out in the treehouse once. With a walkie-talkie.

tj said...

...Hello CBW! I love rainbows! I loved them as a kid and even to this day I stop and marvel at them when they happen...very pretty CBW...

...Gosh, what I wouldn't of given for a rowboat and water like you have when I was a kid! Really, what I wouldn't give for a rowboat and water like you have right now! lol... ;o) Isn't it funny how things have changed since we were kids? It's just like most of our neighbors drive their kids to school so they don't have to stand up at the end of the road for fear they'll get abducted. It's so scary nowadays for parents...

...Is there a reason it's called "Cow Point"? Just wonderin'...

...Happy Friday!

...Blessings... :o)

Anonymous said...

Eh, there's probably no cell service over there anyway, so that wouldn't have helped you. Two tin cans and a string, though? Fer sure.

Lovely rainbow. I got to share one with my three-year-old on Wednesday evening. He's been singing a song about all the colors, so imagine how jazzed he was to see them in a real live rainbow!

bobbie said...

Rainbows are such a great gift. The picture is absolutely beautiful. Thank you.

Unknown said...

The rainbow is beautiful.

I didn't have a rainbow or a Cow Pointe.

When I was ten, a neighbor was accidently shot through the head by her brother. Both young kids. Terrible tragedy that destroyed the whole family.

Anyway, three of us, friends of the deceased, spent a night in the cemetery visiting our friend, with our parents knowledge. We had several picnics there, but only one "sleepover".

I often wonder what our parents where thinking?

foolery said...

I'll bet you weren't the first ones to camp there. And I'll bet that, as long as you didn't litter or vandalize or cause any trouble, the property owner probably didn't mind.

But today that same property owner would have a fit and fall in it because of the liability. If a kid had hurt herself the danger of her suing him is very real, unfortunately. Therein lies the REAL driving force behind the way our world has changed!

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

Thanks to all of you for commenting. It makes my day to come home and see so many.

Truly it is a shame the way things have changed, even here. Although here the change is far slower, which is one of the many reasons I love living here still. Mathews is one of the last frontiers.

tj, there is a reason why it's called cow point, and I will have to consult with my Mathews Expert, who lives on Gwynn's Island, to get more background on that. I knew it at one time, but my mind is like a sieve.....of course y'all already knew that.

Happy Friday.

Anonymous said...

What a great story, CBW.
I remember having adventures with my big cousins back in the day, but nothing as exciting as your voyage. Heck, I never even got into a row boat until I was an "adult".